8 Tax Tips for
Businesses and Self-Employed Individuals 2009

You get a raise every time you find a
legitimate tax deduction. The IRS lists only a small number of the
allowable deductions on their forms, and they are not going to tell you
about a deduction you failed to take. It�s up to you. The savings
can be tremendous. Here are a few:

Tax Tip 1. Your
business expenses are deductible even if you paid them from your
non-business bank account, personal credit card, or cash. Take a few
minutes and go through all of your expenses for the year. If the expenses
were for your business, deduct them. (Does not apply to
corporations).

Tax Tip #2. Be careful when
labeling expenses �entertainment.� Business expenses such as
advertising and promotion are 100% deductible, but entertainment is only
50% deductible. Don�t call an expense �entertainment�
unless it really is.

Tax Tip #3. Hire your kids
and save a bundle in taxes. You can pay your children under the age of 18
as much as $5,700 a year, write off the wages as a 100% tax deductible
payroll expense, and the children owe no federal income or Social Security
tax on the income earned.

Tax Tip #4. You cannot
deduct charitable donations as a business deduction (unless you are a
corporation). If, however, you purchase an advertisement in a charitable
organization�s directory or event program, the cost of the ad is
fully deductible.

Tax Tip #5. Manufacturers, and
some construction, engineering, and architecture firms, software
developers, and video producers, are eligible for a 6%
�manufacturer�s deduction� for income earned from
domestic production. This �bonus� deduction is in addition
to the deductions already allowed for manufacturing
expenses.

Tax Tip #6. You can go back to school,
to take courses that further your education in your current business or
that help you operate your business, such as bookkeeping and computer
skills, and get a business tax deduction for the cost of tuition, books,
fees, and even travel.

Tax Tip #7. Clothing you
wear to work is not usually deductible unless the clothing is a uniform or
otherwise not suitable for street wear. But if you buy shirts, jackets,
hats or other clothing with you business name or logo, the cost is fully
deductible.

Tax Tip #8. In most cases, the cost of
your inventory (goods for sale) cannot be written off until sold. But if
you have damaged inventory, inventory that is out of date or out of
fashion or otherwise unsalable, you can write off the cost of that
inventory immediately.

These Eight Great Tax Tips are excepted from
the new 8th Edition of 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self Employed
Individuals, by
Bernard B. Kamoroff, C.P.A. ($18.95, Bell Springs
Publishing, www.bellsprings.com,
800-515-8050). The tax tips are summaries of the current tax laws; read
the full details before relying on the information

We are a tax and accounting firm in Huntsville Alabama with a strong focus on helping small businesses reduce cost associated with taxes and to assist individual maximize their tax return. Some of the accounting and tax areas in which we are profficient includes, payroll taxes, quaterly and yearly reports, estimated tax, Late Filers, financial statements, income tax return and payroll processing and general bookkeeping. We are familiar with Peachtree, Quicken, CMS and Quickbook.